3,067,997 Shares in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

by · The Markets Daily

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP – Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,067,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $97,348,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of CenterPoint Energy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNP. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in CenterPoint Energy by 3.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 175,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,220,000 after buying an additional 6,597 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 847,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,930,000 after acquiring an additional 56,037 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 77.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 22,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 9,619 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 219,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,469,000 after acquiring an additional 33,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CNP opened at $34.26 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.41 and a 1 year high of $34.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.33 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This is a positive change from CenterPoint Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. CenterPoint Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CNP shares. Guggenheim downgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upgraded shares of CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.65.

Get Our Latest Research Report on CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

(Free Report)

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Electric and Natural Gas. The Electric segment includes electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as optimizes assets in the wholesale power market.

Further Reading

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